


Tales Less Told

by CaptainLordAuditor



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Genre: Chasind, Dalish Elves, Folklore, Gen, Nonbinary Character, Worldbuilding, jewish elves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-09-28 15:51:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10130249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainLordAuditor/pseuds/CaptainLordAuditor
Summary: Folktales from Dalish, city elves, Chasind and Avvar.





	1. The Four Demons (Dalish)

**Author's Note:**

> I REALLY WANT THE DALISH TO HAVE NONBINARY GENDERS BYE

_ A story often told to Dalish children around ten to twelve years old, when they begin to mature and gain apprenticeships. _

* * *

 

Once in the days of Arlathan, when the Forgotten Ones fought against the gods, a clever Forgotten One came up with a plan to set us low and sent a demon against our people.

This demon lay waste to villages and farms and cried, “no man can slay me!”

So one of our people, a weaver-woman named Asha took up sword, and slew the first demon.

And the Forgotten Ones sent a second demon, even greater than the first. This demon lay waste to towns and caravans and cried, “neither man nor woman can slay me!”

So one of our people whose gender was hidden, named Dirthalen, took up spear and slew the second demon.

And the Forgotten Ones sent a third demon, even greater than the second. This demon lay waste to roads and small cities, and cried, “neither man, nor woman, nor dirthalen can slay me! Only one whose gender is not hidden can slay me!”

So one of our people who was dedicated to Jun, the god of Craftsmen, named Ena’asha, took up bow and slew the third demon, for her gender was not hidden, but still, she was neither man, nor woman, and her gender changed.

And the Forgotten Ones sent a fourth demon, even greater than the third. This demon was the worst by far, for not only did it lay waste to roads, to farms and to cities, but also to the temples to our gods! And this demon cried, “Neither man, nor woman, nor dirthalen nor ena’asha can slay me!”

So one of our people, a herder named Ena’jun, took up sling and slew the fourth demon, for his gender was not hidden, but still, he was neither man, nor woman, and his gender changed, but was not that of Ena'asha.

And so the Forgotten One saw that he had been defeated and slinked back to his lair to find a new plan. For everyone on this world has been created by the gods for a reason, and we all have the demon the gods have laid before us, and only you can tell what that demon is.


	2. Flowers and Toads (Chasind)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Chasind story about balancing good and evil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this IS based off of the quote "not all in the wilds are monsters, flowers grow as well as toads" from Morrigan's opening scene.

Once, long, long ago, there was a foolish shaman who thought himself very wise. One day as he was walking, he came upon a toad sitting on a stone and making a meal of the flowers that grew beside it. Now, although the shaman was foolish, like any of our people, he had great knowledge of the things that live and grow in the wilds, and he knew just from looking that this toad was a poisonous one, and the flower was worth nothing in healing. And so he determined that since the toad was evil, the flower that gave it its food must be as well, and so should be destroyed.

So the foolish shaman went to our Mother, and told Her of his thoughts. And our Mother watched him with a smile tucked in Her eyes, for She knew what he did not, and contrived to teach him a lesson. She agreed with him, that the flowers were evil, and with a wave of Her hand, destroyed all plants of this species.

And so the flowers and the toads that feasted on them were gone. But because there were no toads, there were hundreds of the bloodsucking insects that plague the swamp in the summer, and nothing to eat them. And the flowers, no longer sprouting every few feet, did not turn the soil, and the other plants ate what was left greedily, with nothing to replace what they took. And so within a season the other plants died as well, and the bog flooded such that even the best of scouts could not track or run across the marsh, and the people had to step only on stones, for they could not trust that any dirt was solid. And the water that rose filled with silt and eggs of mosquitos, and though there was water everywhere, the people went thirsty, and the animals did, too.

So the shaman returned to our Mother and begged Her to return the toads and the flowers to their places in the swamp, for he saw now that though the things She created did not do us good directly, they were Her children as well, and thus our siblings, and siblings care for each other.

So the Mother nodded, and with a wave of Her hand returned the flowers and the toads, and said, “With this lesson, I give also a gift: These flowers, mixed with that which kills you, together have saved your lives of thirst and sinking, and they shall save you again in another way. For though nothing the gods have created is truly evil, there are those things that are not made from the gods, but by the folly of man, and when they come, take their blood, and mix with the petals of this flower.”

And that is why we must treat everything in the forest with respect, for just as humans are made of good and evil, so is everything else our Mother created. 


	3. Queen Da’Assan, or, Why the Crows Mark Themselves(Dalish, originally Antivan)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dalish Purim, because screw you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Purim!  
> This chapter is sort of a companion to the fic I wrote last year about Purim, in that it's the explanation for why Hawke is able to have this holiday when Persia doesn't exist in Thedas.

Once, perhaps two hundred generations ago, our people went to Antiva City gladly and openly to trade with the shemlen there. The shemlen were suspicious of us, but we took their leathers and they took our woodwork, and thus both were pleased.

During this time, a clan came to visit, whose Keeper had a strange First. Her name was Da’Assan, and she came to her magic late. Because of this, though she was nearly twenty two years, she had not yet been granted her vallaslin, as she was not yet trained enough. Even stranger was that although she had come to be First, only her mother was an elf. Of her father, we know nothing, only that he did not look after his daughter with the Dalish, nor take her to live with him as a shemlen. 

As they visited, her mother’s brother, named Fendakhay, told Da’Assan, “Let your staff stay inside the aravel, far from sight, for if the shemlen see we have wizards, they will call for their priests to kill the clan. Cover your ears with your hair or a scarf, for if the shemlen see we have an elf-blooded woman among our clan, they will say that we stole you from your family and kill us.” And Da’Assan did so.

Though the Clan could only set up their stalls in the Alienage, the wealthy Antivans would walk down there and pay highly for Dalish ironbark work. The Keeper sent Da’Assan to purchase herbs and crystals for their magic, and as she was haggling, the king of the city saw her. He did not know she was Dalish, for she wore no vallaslin nor keeper’s robe. What he knew was that she was beautiful, and he wished to take her for a wife.

So he approached her, and flattered and wooed her, but Da’Assan held herself away from him, knowing that no wealthy shemlen was trustworthy, however ceremonial his power. And though she accepted his flirtations, she did not return them, for all that she wished to.

But Da’Assan was clever, and when the king persisted over the weeks they stayed, she thought, if this city has an elven queen, perhaps I can change this city that they might treat my people better. My children shall have little trouble, and all know that the king holds little power here - surely the other nations will not care if he takes an elf-blooded woman for a wife? When he asked for her hand she agreed, despite the warnings of the Keeper and her father.

And so Da’Assan and the king of Antiva were married.

But ah, Da’Assan’s predictions were wrong. As he returned to the Alienage from a delivery, Fendakhay heard a whispered exchange in the shadows of an alley, and stopped to listen. It was two Crows, and they plotted to kill the king and take his power. At once he killed the Crows, ran to the palace, and, as the queen’s uncle, was trusted when he gave his warning that Crows had been sent after the king, no matter how lowly a merchant-elf he may be.

Now the king had a close advisor, who was the knight commander of the circle in Antiva City, and this man was very proud, and arrogant. And so the knight commander declared that all citizens of the city should bow before him as they would the king or the Divine, for he was the agent of the Maker tasked with protecting them.

But Fendakhay did not bow, and he would stand outside the commander’s office such that the commander would always see him when he went to speak with the king, and he would see that he did not bow. 

And the king said to the knight commander whose name we do not speak, “if the king wishes to reward a man for saving his life, what is the fitting reward?”

Well! The knight commander had recently arrested two maleficarum, and thinking the king meant himself, he said, “the fitting reward is that the king allow this man’s people to walk among the city however they wish, and do business in what manner pleases them.”

And the king said, “Then I shall do this.” And lifted the laws that said elves were only to do business in the Alienage or in private homes, and the laws that said the vhenadal only grow as high as the Chantry, and that elves must only live in the Alienage.

Dalish and city elves rejoiced, for there was no greater victory than when the shemlen are stronghanded into accepting that we are capable, but the knight commander raged. When he himself had killed maleficarum with his own hand, the king rewarded these savages, and left the templars to clank through the streets in their armor that warned mages, and only arrest them with permission of the king and Chantry alike! The Dalish were nothing more than conmen and apostates, all knew this, and yet the king rewarded them as if they were the highest of princes!

The next day, when the knight commander went to his office, Fendakhay was there, yet he did not bow, again. And the knight commander said to him, “why do you not bow?”

Fendakhay said, “I bow before no one but the gods.”

Said the knight commander, “I am the agent of the Maker’s will. You will bow before me.”

But Fendakhay only replied, “I worship no Maker. Were you the agent of Elgar’nan, I would gladly bow before you, but you work the will of the Maker, and so there is no one for me to bow to.”

The knight commander grew angry and said, “do you not bow before your king?”

Fendakhay replied, “I have no king, for I am Dalish.”

At this the knight commander became even angrier, and his hatred for elves grew such that it consumed him.

And so he began to scheme, and thought, the queen’s mother is an elf, and so must she be, by the laws of their people. Cityborn or forestborn, the elves are rats that use vile magic for their ways. She likely holds the king in her thrall, but she works for the good of her people, and hers alone. I must destroy her people without alerting her.

And so he sent alert to Val Royeaux that the king had taken an elven apostate as wife (and though this was true, he had no proof!) and let apostates walk freely in the streets. And though the knight commander did his best to keep quiet, Fendakhay, as sneaky as the Crows he had killed, heard him giving the message to his messenger, and alerted the queen. 

The queen wept and cried, and said to her uncle, “let our people in the city mourn for three days, and tell the shemlen that ask that a terrible sword will come to strike them and we mourn for their lives.”

And Fendakhay did so. 

And Da’Assan went to her husband and said, “in three days, you, the knight commander and I, shall feast together, for we are the greatest of friends.” And the king agreed.

And at this feast she said, “let us feast again in three days.” And the knight commander and the king agreed.

And at the second feast she said as she had said before, “let us feast again in three days.” And the knight commander and the king agreed, as they had before.

And at the third feast, Da’Assan spoke and said, “There is a man in your court who wishes myself and my people dead, and has called for an army to kill us, that would be in his control and pay alone! On behalf of the people I rule, I beg your help.”

And the king grew angry, and said, “who is this man I have kept in my court?”

And Da’Assan drew back her hair, and with a hand burning with magic, pointed at the knight commander and cried, “It is the knight commander, who has called for an Exalted March for letting my people walk among the humans!”

It was then that the messenger burst into the room, and cried, “My lord commander, Val Royeaux has lent their armies to your cause!” and the king saw that Da’Assan told the truth. And so he rose and drew his sword and slew the knight commander, and sent for servants to carry this message to all corners of Antiva: Val Royeaux had sent for an army to rid Antiva of its queen, and all who could carry a sword or bow, be they human or elf, would fight against them.

And so they did, and though the guildmaster of the Crows was killed and the Antivans and Dalish lost many of their men, the Dalish still lived and walked among this shemlen city as freely as the shemlen themselves. The Crows went to Fendakhay and told him they wished to have him as guildmaster, and he accepted, and said that all his people must mark themselves with markings like those of the Dalish when they became full members, for they were his new Clan. 

And Da’Assan remained with the king, and they had ten children, of whom seven lived to gain their vallaslin, and thereafter, the Crows never underestimated the skills of an elf, though the other humans often forgot.

But since then, our people have carried weapons in Antiva freely as any shemlen - for you never know when the knight commander’s spirit will return.


End file.
